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FINE SOAP MAKERS, LIKE
THE REST OF US, CHOOSE FATS WISELY
Most of today's talk about fat concerns the foods we eat. But did you know
that when you choose a soap, you also have a choice of saturated,
unsaturated, poly, mono, animal and vegetable fats? Soap is made by mixing a
fat with an alkali, a process called saponification. In the old days, soap
makers used the actual ashes of plants like the soapwort and now-extinct
barilla for their alkali. Then, in 18th century France, Nicolas
Leblanc figured out how to synthesize the active ingredient of this ash,
sodium hydroxide (lye), and it has been used for soap making ever since.
When it comes to which fat and other ingredients to use, however, there are
still plenty of options. Most commercial soaps are made from a tallow base,
which is, simply, animal fat. Tallow has been used for soap ever since the
Phoenicians boiled up some goat fat with wood ashes about 2500 years ago
(the first solid soap bar wasn't made until around the eighth century).
Superfatted soaps are made by adding additional oil or fat (often lanolin)
to the base after saponification. Glycerin soaps are a natural by-product of
the soap making process. When you mix fat with lye, the reaction creates
about 93 percent soap and seven percent glycerin. Glycerin soap is made by
adding back to the soap the glycerin naturally removed in the saponification
process. Many of Europe's master soap makers (called savonniers in
France) prefer vegetable based soaps, which are usually made with a blend of
80 percent palm oil and 20 percent coconut oil (just like some cookies!).
They also often use other vegetable oils, such as the olive oil which is
used to make the famous "Castile soap" of Spain. Vegetable based soaps have
been coveted for centuries for their aesthetic qualities and the way they
pamper the skin. Today, some people simply like them because they prefer
products not derived from animals. Vegetable soaps can be blended with fine
fragrances to make them more luxurious, and triple-milled to provide
long-lasting qualities. This is the case with Provence Santé soaps, made by
master "savonnier" Stephane Lecaille in Avignon in the south of
France. Lecaille crafts his soap using traditional methods and natural
additives such as lavender, the classic fragrance of Provence; extract of
honeysuckle, which soothes the skin; and vervain (also known as lemon
verbena), which lends a sweet, citrus fragrance to the soap. Provence Santé
vegetable based soaps are imported by Baudelaire, Inc., which specializes in
fine imported soaps and body care products.
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